SE 5 response

The first fact that I found interesting is about soda.  This fact is that soda can increase how hungry you are.  Going further, soda is a common drink with unhealthy food and fast food.  By drinking soda with this unhealthy food you are inadvertently making yourself more hungry to eat more unhealthy food.  This could be one of the causes to the obesity problem in the united states.  Another food fact that I find interesting is that eggs can help with disease prevention and treatment.  I have always heard that eggs are healthy but I’ve never heard that it can help your fight disease.  

Irregular Eating Habits

            After reading over a few of the food journals I found a trend that most people didn’t have a regular eating schedule.  This made me curious if there were any negative or positive outcomes from not eating consistent meals.  While looking for a medical journal that reported studying in this area I had assumed that eating the routine three meals a day was the most healthy way to eat.  I was very surprised to find that while there were some detrimental effects from having irregular meals some aspects of health were unchanged.

            The study focused on middle aged (40-50 years old) men and women.  The study lasted six months.  In this six month period there was two eight week segments where the participants would either eat three meals a day, as a control, or 1 meal per day.  There was an eleven week period that separated the two eight week segments where the subjects were allowed to resume their normal diets.  The nutritional levels were balanced so that the people eating three meals a day would be eating as much as the people who ate only one meal per day.  Simply put, the people who ate only one meal per day ate enough food in that one meal to equal the three meals that the other subjects ate.

            This study concluded that overall it was unhealthy to eat only one large meal per day.  The subjects experienced a, “significant reduction of fat mass and significant increases in levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  While high-density lipoproteins are good for you, the low-density lipoprotein is not.  Also a significant increase in both is detrimental to your health.  There was also an increased sensitivity to insulin in the one meal per day subjects. This caused the participants to have an, “improved cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk profiles.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)

I was taken by surprise by three results of this study.  The first thing that I was surprised by was that, “all subjects maintained their body weight within 2 kg of their initial weight throughout the 6-month period.” (Carlson, Olga et al.)  I would have guessed that the people eating three meals per day would maintain a constant body weight while the individuals eating only one meal per day would gain or lose weight.  The second result that I found surprising was that there were no long lasting ill effects on glucose levels once the subjects returned to a regular 3-meal per day diet.  Also, health benefits do come from eating only one meal per day. This is only applicable when the one meal contains all essential nutrients and enough calories to keep you going but, this diet “can result in health benefits including improved glucose regulation, but only if there is an overall reduction in energy intake.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  I am surprised that there is any good in only eating one meal per day. 

            From this study, simply put, it is apparent that eating one large meal per day is bad for your health.  There is an increase in rick for cardiovascular problems as well as an increased risk for diabetes.  While eating a smaller balanced meal once per day can help regulate your glucose I still feel that eating three meals per day is the healthiest way to consume food. 

Works Cited:

Carlson, Olga, Bronwen Martin, Kim S. Stote, Erin Golden, Stuart Maudsley, Samer S. Najjar, Luigi Ferrucci, Donald K. Ingram, Dan L. Longo, William V. Rumpler, David J. Baer, Josephine Egan, and Mark P. Mattson. "Impact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and WomenImpact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and Women." Metabolism 56.12 (2007): 1729-734. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049507002806>.

P8 response

Bobby went into a lot of detail with his blog.  He described what he was doing and as to why he chose to ate what he did.  Shelby added pictures of most things that she chose to eat.  Quinn’s blog is a lot more Spartan.  It contains the date and time and what he ate.  It lacks any extra detail, but it perfectly meets the assignment of recording when and what he ate.  

Food Log (P8)

Thursday May 10^th:

7:20 a.m. - Omelet with ham, spinach, jalapenos, cheese, and black olives.  Glass of chocolate milk.

11:15 a.m. – Taco with steak, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese.  Side of beans, rice, and chips.  Dr. Pepper to drink. 

6:00 p.m. – Cheese burger, fries, salad with caesar dressing and a glass of yellow Gatorade.    

Friday May 11^th:

8:30 a.m. – Scrambled eggs with breakfast sausage and hash browns.  Glass of water

11:15 a.m. – Piece of chicken with a side of pasta and fresh pineapple.  Glass of water

7:15 p.m. – Snarf’s French dip sandwich.  In the sandwich there was roast beef, provolone, and lettuce. 

Saturday May 12^th:

8:25 a.m. – Bowl of Cheerios with 2% milk and a glass of orange juice.

12:10 p.m. – Chicken enchilada with a side salad, rice, and beans. 

4:30 p.m. – Chocolate almond Cliff Bar

6:10 p.m. – Meat lasagna, fries, and a Caesar salad.  Yellow Gatorade to drink.      

  

Short Essay #4 "Rice"

                My most recent meal is a Chipotle burrito.  In this burrito there were a lot of different ingredients.  There were rice, beans, steak, lettuce, salsa, and cheese.  Of these ingredients there is one major ingredient that has been a main staple of many people’s diets.  This ingredient is rice.  It can be traced as far back as 2500 B.C. (Rost, Thomas)  Many countries use rice as a major component is most meals.  I am intrigued by this ingredient because it is so common in every culture and it is present in most meals. 

                Rice is found in many different cultures because its seeds are incredibly versatile and durable.  This many it easy to be transported great distances and traded to new cultures.  Rice originated in china. (Kiple, Kenneth F. and Kriemhild C. Ornelas)    From china it made its way to Sri Lanka and India.  There it was traded to areas in the Mediterranean.  Once there it was spread throughout Europe and North Africa.  Rice was brought to North America from England and to South America by Spain and Portugal.  (Rost, Thomas)

                Rice found its way to North America by accident.  The story goes that in 1685 a storm battered ship was forced to make port at the Charleston harbor.  The colonists helped to repair the ship and as a gift of thanks the captain gave the colonists rice seeds.  There were incredibly fertile marshlands close to the colony so growing the rice was relatively easy.  In just 15 years rice became a major crop for the colonists and in one year 300 tons of rice was grown.  It was grown on such a large scale that there were not enough trading ships to send all of the rice back to England.  Just 26 years after the year that 300 tons of rice was grown, Charleston was exporting 4500 tons of rice annually.  (Ehler, James)

                Initially Rice was grown by throwing the seeds into wetlands.  The early Chinese civilizations that did this eventually began to build small berms to keep the water in and contain the fields.  Harvesting the crop is very labor intensive.  It would be common for entire communities to help with the harvest.  It became easier to plant and harvest rice once tools and advanced machines were developed.  In modern day America planes are used to spread the seeds over the targets fields.  With tractors and pumps it is easier for farmers to create ideal irrigation conditions for the seeds to grow.  Only once the tools evolved enough were people able to farm rice without needing a massive amount of labor.   (Kiple, Kenneth F. and Kriemhild C. Ornelas)

                I have learned a lot about rice from doing research and writing this paper.  The most surprising thing that I was able to learn was the difficulty of harvesting rice.  For example, “Even with ox and mule-drawn equipment. . . .rice ‘farms’ or plantations of only a few hundred acres required from 100 to 300 laborers.”  (Ehler, James)  I had always thought that because of the abundance and the low cost of rice that it was easy to harvest.  I was also surprised to learn that rice was brought to America unintentionally.  I would have guessed that rice was brought to the colonies intentionally as a crop that they would try to grow to survive.  Instead it was because a ship needed repairs and the captain thanked the colonists by giving them rice seeds.  I also found the path that rice took to spread around the world was interesting.  I wasn’t that surprised that it started in the east and made its way to the west, but it was interesting to have it mapped out. 

                This knowledge doesn’t affect how I will treat my consumption of rice.  Because plantation and cultivation of rice has been mechanized there is no need to respect rice over other plants.  If rice was still hand cultivated then I would have much more respect for rice.  I would cherish meals that contain rice as much as meals that contain other difficult foods and spices to grow.  An example of something that I do cherish a lot is anything with saffron.  This is a difficult spice to obtain and when I eat dishes I try to savor the flavor much more.  This would make paella, a saffron rice based dish, one of my most respected and savored dishes. 

               

Works Cited

Rost, Thomas. "Rice: History." Rice: History. 1997. Web. 06 May 2012. http://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/labs/rost/Rice/introduction/intro.html

Ehler, James. "RICE: The History of Rice in the U.S." Rice History, Development & Methods. USA Rice Federation. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-rice-history.html>.

Kiple, Kenneth F., and Kriemhild C. Ornelas. "The Cambridge World History of Food- Rice." The Cambridge World History of Food- Rice. Web. 07 May 2012. <http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/rice.htm>.

Post #7

                The article “Fowl Trouble” by Cook tracks the history and production of cheap fast chicken products.  The main focus of the article is what the workers go through to work at these facilities.  It talks about how the workers must endure fast repetitive motion and dangerous working conditions while not getting paid enough to warrant these hazards. 

I was troubled by what was presented in Fowl Trouble.  I had never read anything that broke down all the hazards and problems with the working conditions at chicken processing plants.  I had always assumed that it was much safer for the workers and that they got paid more than in some cases $6.50 an hour.  In a country where there are laws and unions that protect workers I am surprised to learn that there are still jobs where the workers are viewed as replaceable. 

                “On the Tomato Trail” uses tomatoes as a focus of study.  This article talks about how tomatoes from Florida are picked while still perfectly green and are ripened artificially by being exposed to gasses.  After this are they sent to the stores perfectly red and shaped but flavorless.  Then on the other hand home grown tomatoes are less than perfect.  They may or may not be perfectly red, usually lumpy, and would burst if dropped from too high up.  While these traits may turn people away, the true tomato consumer knows that the flavor from these tomatoes is unbeatable.  

                 I found it very interesting that the tomatoes in Florida are so hardy.  The example of tomatoes being almost completely unharmed after being thrown from a moving truck was very surprising.  I was expecting the author to say that there was exploded tomato everywhere on the road. 

                An Animal’s Place talks about animals and their rights.  It talks about people are changing their approach as to how their view animals.  Countries are starting to give animals more rights so that they are not abused or that the possibility of abuse is eliminated.  For example England has banned the production of animals solely for their fur.  

Blog post #6

Pollan starts out by talking about “Carbophobia” which is the fear of eating too much carbs.  He talks about how pasta, bread, and other carbohydrate rich foods vanished because they were labeled as unhealthy.  The cause of this fear is that Americans are trying to be overly healthy.  We are not eating to how our body feels but that we are eating only foods that have been deemed healthy by someone who may or may not be credible. 

                I found the most interesting part of this was the comparison to the French.  I was surprised that the main answers from Americans were related to health while the French associated those types of foods with pleasure and more positive connotations.  What is even more surprising is that while we eat food based on health we are not that healthy.  And that the French who choose to eat food depending on pleasure are more health than us.  I would of guessed from just this information that the French would be less healthy than us.

                I choose what I eat depending on my past meals, how I am feeling, and what I have planned until my next meal.  If I have been eating unhealthy or unbalance meals I try to make up for what I was missing in my next meal.  If I am feeling sick I will usually try to get more healthy food in me over eating unhealthy food.  And if I have an activity planned for later in the day that is strenuous I try to eat more carbs and protein to keep my energy up.  If I am planning on having a lazy day I will usually eat healthier food.